


What The Future Will Hold

by Lady_Kaie



Series: Darkness Over Eos [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anger, F/M, Fighting, Frustration, Gen, Multi, Oral Sex, Other, Porn With Plot, Rough Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Sex, Smut, Vaginal Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24862801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Kaie/pseuds/Lady_Kaie
Summary: Meryda is no longer able to stay on the sidelines in this war.  A messenger comes for her and she listens...Ignis never wanted Meryda to have to live through being a soldier in the Darkness even though she was raised to be one.  He wants her at home where she's safe...Even if home isn't so safe anymore.How will they cope with her new roles and will Ignis be able to put his stubborn nature aside and welcome her to the front lines?
Relationships: Ignis Scientia/Meryda Strigan (OC)
Series: Darkness Over Eos [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710316
Kudos: 1





	1. Omens

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own nor do I profit from FFXV or Square Enix

(Year 5 or 6 of the Darkness)

“Your thoughts are loud as always…” The words whispered through the darkness, tugging the slumbering woman into a realm of sleep she often shied away from for it brought her nothing but heartache.

The voice startled Meryda as the darkness surrounding her faded to exquisite daylight. Pulled from her peaceful slumber wrapped in strong arms where the world was forgotten, when she finished her journey to the woman who summoned her, joy and sadness mingled within.

In the world around her there was brilliant light with scents on the air that she once had been used to, but now they were as foreign as her home land. Glancing around, Meryda realized she was in the Oracle’s garden where much of her days were spent while she had lived in Fenestala Manor.

The Sylleblossoms were in bloom and their aroma heavy overwhelmed the air. There was abundant green foliage that came in the summer months and filled up her sight for as far as the eye could see. Gorgeous statues and structures were overflowing with the incredible flora that at times made the gardens seem unruly. The grass was kept short, and statues polished in reverence, but she had never felt like this space would ever be controlled by a mortal’s hand.. 

Directly in front of her stood a statue of Bahamut, carved from Marble with the Astral in all his splendor in this area of full sunlight that had been created in his honor. The incredible splay of his sword wings had amazed her as a child, and her mother told her that he was the Astral in which the Strigan family had honored since the beginning of their time as the protector to the Oracle. For it was he who gave Eos light.

Bahamut, the Draconian, the Bladekeeper, it was he who blessed their family as protector’s to the Oracle and it was for that reason her family coat of arms possessed his mark amongst the blue and gold cloth that hung in their grand hall for all to see. Growing up the children had been privy to so many stories of their heritage, and even more incredible recounts of the Astral many people knew nothing about.

Her favorites were the ones that her grandmother had passed down to the three granddaughters, who had been told that as they were destined to protect the Oracle, they would also be called upon to protect the King one day.

As the eldest daughter, Meryda had been gifted with her mother’s sacred weapon that was passed down to each Priestess upon ascension to the Oracle’s reign. She also possessed the ancient weapons all Strigan’s were skilled in using, which was her preferred weapon out of the two. The staff had been made of black blue metal with an ornate scythe that was the same vivid shade of bluish black except for a curve of gold through the center of the blade and on the sharp ends on both the outside and inside of the blade. There was a pointed blade on the end to use for distance attacks and a slightly curved blade and guard with four spiked details on the opposite side that the scythe rested. The legends said that it was built from one of the handles of the sword wings the Astral possessed that had been broken during his fight with Ifrit. The first Strigan to find it had pledged her life and honor to Bahamut and with his might, the mighty Draconian created the scythe from the glorious light he possessed within. But then, to his Beloved Strigan, he passed down one of his very own swords and bid her the duty of protecting his Oracle.

As the scourge began to spread and Strigan fought in his name she implored her Oracle to commune with the Astral and pleaded with him to end the plague. Bahamut was unmoved by the plea for help when his children had done nothing to seek his aid. In fact his young ones had gone so far as to ignore the King of Lucii and the light he had gifted the world through the sacrifice of his eye.

The great crystal given to the blessed Kings of Lucis was a piece of the incredible Astral himself and those who had forsaken Lucis, had forsaken his grace and gifts upon the world. As penance for her people, Strigan communed with the Astral in the Oracle’s garden but he never came at her request, merely sent the messenger to convey the same message day in and day out.

“The True King is Eos’ last hope for I will not bring the light to the earth as long as those who have defied me continue to live upon this blessed soil.”

For years Strigan came to her God, offering the sacrifice of her youth to her cause while she delivered her children to the Astral, swearing that her family would continue to worship the wayward Lightbearer. It was upon her final days that she left the comfort of her home and bed, to spend the last breaths she would take on the planet’s surface, before the statue of her sacred Astral. Moved by the love the woman, who had been only a girl when he met her, showed him, Bahamut returned to Eos to bring her home with him.

Upon her last breath beneath the dawn stained sky of her final day, she witnessed her mighty warrior descend from the heavens to ferry her home into the great beyond, where she would remain with him for eternity. When her family came to collect the body, a single golden gem remained where once the first Strigan had passed on. The impression of her light body could still be seen in the grass, but she was gone to the other plane where she would be able to watch over her beloved family.

Four daughters, three sons, and a husband who had stood by her side through all of the trials Bahamut continued to throw at them, mourned their precious mother beneath the full light of day in the Oracle’s garden. In Strigan’s honor, the stone was mounted upon the statue of Bahamut and her family honored as an official household of Tenebrae.

Over the years the stone went missing and was never found and throughout the years it was believed that Bahamut had returned for the small piece of his heart that had been carved out to hold his beloved Strigan, because he had once again fallen into oblivion. Others believed that one of the other Astral’s stole it so that they could use the light to usurp Bahamut. While the popular belief that had passed down over the years was that the daemons had stolen it to keep its powers out of the hands of a Strigan who could and would use it to fight away the darkness.

Meryda had never been sure if the myth was real, or just another tall tale used to project hope into a hopeless situation, but she had found herself during her years at Lunafreya’s side, coming to the statue of Bahamut and offering her prayers to the Astral. She believed in the goodness of people even if he didn’t, and if he would have allowed her to bear the burden, she would have done all that he asked to help her princess.

He had never answered her prayers.

Meryda’s blue eyes were closed to fully soak in the sensation of the sunlight on her face. “Gentianna...It’s been a long time.” The woman had been an advisor to Lunafreya, much like her mother had been to the Queen, but there had always been something about her that put Meryda off.

The dark haired beauty strode forward to sit beside the ivy covered statue. “You haven’t changed…” She curled her robes about her slim body and gave a warm smile to the young woman who had always been unnerved by her presence. Perhaps she could sense who she was?

Meryda’s gaze was weary upon the gorgeous woman and even more so the fact that she had traipsed into her dreams without forewarning. Usually she only ever visited Luna… “What is it that you want Gentianna?”

The messenger smiled softly to calm the Eldest Strigan but she wasn’t accepting of such a gesture. Meryda was wise beyond her years and reminded her significantly of the first Strigan. “I have only come to visit you my dear girl. To see how you are doing with your handsome lover…”

A shot of cold dread shot up the woman’s spine when Ignis was brought up, and though the warmth of the world around lulled her into a calm state of being, her mind was alert and ready for a potential attack. Gentianna picked up on her alarm.

The woman’s bright green eyes softened in sorrow that Meryda would ever think she would bring her harm. Sighing, she began, “I should have told you from the start.” It was her silence that had created a rift between them when such distance had never been necessary.

Before the daughter of Strigan could think up a myriad of concerns, Gentianna stood and allowed her true form to emerge. Words would offer clarity, but the vision of her Goddess form would eliminate all concerns. “Shiva?” The woman’s tone was full of awe and the unease they had lived in for years was gone.

“You were protecting Luna?” Meryda had known that the Astral’s spoke with the Oracle, and that Luna had always spoken highly of Shiva to her, but she hadn’t imagined that the woman who watched over her was the actual Goddess so many revered. Shiva was not a forgotten Goddess, and due to her love for mortals, it earned her numerous followers where the other Astral’s had been cast aside due to their indifference.

“I was.” the heavenly being confirmed before shifting back to her mortal shell so that Meryda was once again looking upon a familiar face. There was a flare of relief in the Astral’s ancient gaze that surprised Meryda slightly.

“Why didn’t you ever say?”

Gentianna shrugged and took her place beside the former Priestess and sighed. “It never felt right. Perhaps I appreciated also that you would protect your Princess against anyone, including those closest to her.” Meryda had been fully devoted to Luna and had on more than one occasion stepped between herself and the Oracle when the Priestess felt that she had been out of line. That level of devotion was a rare find in the world that had lost its faith in the Astral’s.

The two fell into a comfortable silence for a time, both enjoying the feel of the sunshine even if it was only a dream. How many afternoon’s had the two of them spent, granted in their corners of the garden far from the other, basking in the glorious light of the sun? How many times had Meryda taken for granted said blessed light? Too many.

“Do you remember when you girls would sleep out here under the stars?”

How could she have forgotten? Meryda and Luna would stay up long after the younger girls had gone to sleep and make up stories about the stars in the night sky.

“Luna said that Bahamut was the one who had painted the darkness with little points of light. That he had taken the blessed souls who worshipped him and put them into the heavens to remain for eternity.” Meryda had always thought that Bahamut himself was a star, born of pure light and fallen to Eos to act as guardian. The other stars in the sky were other Astral’s of his family that were forming their own will, or traveling to their own planet to guard like their kin had.

Gentianna’s smile was warm, the memory of listening to the young girls whisper their little stories had always touched her heart mostly because it had been millenia since other little ones had spoken of her kind with such fervor. The stories were there, that they had all come together to Eos to care for the planet and shape it in their image, but she enjoyed hearing the fantastical worlds the girls had built surrounding them.

The love she had shared with the Pyreburner had been a favorite of Meryda’s who believed in true love at such a tender age, despite being raised to follow the path of a warrior and servant to the Oracle. “Do you still believe in that eternal love Meryda? The one you were sure Ifrit and I shared.” Had shared, once upon a time.

And yet, she still harbored that love for him deep inside where it was safe to still feel it. He had been lost to her for so long she dared not contemplate a hope that he would find his way from the madness and back to her arms.

Gentianna’s pristine features were as calm as they ever were, but if one looked for the right cue, the pain could be read in her stormy eyes. “I must…” 

“Then why do you fight it so when your beloved is so determined to be with you?” A tough question that no one ever wanted to be asked, but it wasn’t a secret she had been watching over the House of Strigan’s heir. “He adores you…”

“He has a duty.”

“Duty can change.” Gentianna murmured wistfully as she had learned that shift in her own reality and not for the better. “Why do you deny either of you when it is clear he makes you happy. I never saw you that way with your husband.”

And Meryda had never experienced that with her husband either. Closing her eyes as the wind picked up and caressed across her warm face, Meryda memorized the smell of the Sylleblossoms in the wind and hoped the memory would stay after she awoke. “Ignis is very special…” But he could die. A man such as this would follow his King to the end and if that end meant death, then he would meet it head on.

The pretty words they shared in the darkness of their shared room, when he held her close after indulging in one another, were reserved for their dreams, not the hopes for the future. “He will follow his King to the very end. And I cannot blame him for that journey when I would have followed Luna to the afterlife.” Without a question, without hesitation, she would have followed the Oracle and stood by her side ever after as she watched over the planet’s people she loved so much.

Gentianna reached up with a tender gesture of care to wipe at the escaped prisoners running down Meryda’s face for freedom. This strong girl, now turned dedicated mother and protector, had never ceased to amaze her. “One prophecy is not always the way my young one. Sometimes there are answered he who spoke did not account for.” There was light burning deep in this woman’s soul and should she follow the man put in her path, that light would find its way into the world.

“Give in to him Meryda. For your Princess. Live the life she always wanted for you.” 

Meryda turned to look upon the Goddess speaking to her and where she expected to see the stone cold features of the dark haired advisor, what she did see was a warmth and prayer of hope radiating back at her. “I don’t know if I can…” To hope? To dream? How could she do those things when this existence was near to impossible?

“Let him guide you darling girl. Follow him… he will lead the way…” 

** 

With a loud gasp on her lips, the blond woman laying in the arms of her lover, shot up from a deep sleep with unknown sorrow caressing her features. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute and when Ignis sat up to check her condition, a sob fled her lips. 

“Meryda… what happened? A bad dream? Come here my darling.” The questions were rapid but as fast as they came they were gone and then she was once again entangled against the body she had come to know almost better than her own. Ignis guided them both back to the bedding, one arm curled protectively around her shoulders, while the other had run up into her hair to keep her tucked close against his neck.

This was her place, when the darkness was too much and her heart felt like it would shatter looking into the desperate faces of the children who had to survive this plague. Her anger was palpable some days and she wanted nothing more than to call out to Bahamut and curse him for his selfishness. To leave the innocent at the mercy of the scourge that they did not deserve to fight! So when the world continued to demand her energy and tried her patience until there was none left, Meryda retreated against the solid body of her lover who smelled of rich cologne and spice. 

Not even fully aware that she had continued to sob since she awoke, her mind registered Ignis’ calm, but alarmed voice, trying to offer comfort for a situation he didn’t have a grasp of. “It’s all right darling… i’m here. You’re safe.” 

And she was…

“You’ll stay?” These two little words meant so much more than just the moment they were in, they also spoke of the future one had committed herself to and the other had started to dream of. 

“I will always be at your side.” Ignis whispered against the distraught woman’s sylleblossom scented locks. The warmth in her skin and sweet smell of her products had turned into an automatic scent that he sometimes imagined when he was far away from her. In his dreams it would reach out and test him to wakefulness, reminding the soldier that he had someone to get home to. 

At the start of this darkness he had promised his King that he would fight and persevere to help Noctis reach the light, but as time went on and life became more complicated than being a mere soldier, Ignis had started to plan for what would come after the sacrifice. He began to consider what kind of world he would have a hand in rebuilding and what he wanted it to look like for the children who depended on them. With Meryda at his side, he felt brave enough to dream…

And slowly, so slowly, Meryda was allowing herself to walk the same path. “I’m ok.” She told him softly now that the tears were gone and her breathing was finding its natural speed. 

As she quieted, Ignis released the tension in his body and slowly the two relaxed into the other and when the dreams came calling this time they didn’t have a hidden agenda.

**

Gentianna watched over the slumbering lovers from her perch in the Astral plane when she felt another join her. Caught in the act, she pushed the vision to the side and turned to find her companion in white with a look of restrained frustration on her face.

“Gentianna… I forbid you…” The young woman’s voice was accusatory and it had every right to be.

“My Lady, it must be done.” There were other ways to salvage Eos and Shiva wasn’t going to sid idly by while her beloved brother cursed a people who hadn’t willingly forgotten him. “We are dying… there must be new life to push our world forward.”

Lunafreya frowned as realization dawned on her that this stand against the starscourge was no longer solely in Noctis’ hands. “You ask her to die!” She spat, furious that she had done everything to protect her beloved friend, and later as she had found out, cousin. “She is my blood.”

“And as your blood, she has a role to play…” Shiva had been privy to a few separate premonitions and the final had encouraged her to act. The time for being a bystander was over and now, she would take her place in this battle and call upon those who could serve her vision regardless of if it went against the Oracle’s wishes. “You are blind to what could possibly happen. The man… he has a strong will.” A strong enough will to bind the woman to him so that when the time came, she would do everything in her power to save him.

Including to die.

“Ignis? Yes, he always has.” Lunafreya hadn’t been given the time to get to properly know Ignis, but she had known that if Noctis was to sacrifice himself in the end, that his Glaive’s would need to live on when the sun finally rose upon Eos’ soil. So, she had created a situation and pushed her dearest friend through a version of hell, so that she could find the one who would take her by the hand and walk her out of it.

Gentianna turned to go with a final word on the matter. “Believe in her and she will succeed. If you do not… then certain peril will take her from the planet. It is in your hands Luna.” And with that, the Goddess was gone, leaving the Oracle alone with an almost unbearable heaviness in her chest.

Luna knew better than to put her faith in the Astral that she would keep Meryda alive through any of this. Was it an outcome she hoped to achieve? Maybe. Was it one she would see through to the end? Doubtful. 

I will protect you Meryda… I swear it…

The house of Strigan would go on with not just Fleur to carry the mantle, but the other children she had witnessed in the woman’s future. That was a future the world of Eos needed and Luna was going to make sure it happened.

***********

This fic is kind of a hodge podge of instants and will be a bit more clear in the last chapter. I meant for it to be more in depth but it wrote itself out this way and I kept it. Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


	2. Thunder Rolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryda and Ignis get called out to deal with a situation in town due to the storms. 
> 
> Meryda ends up finding that warrior in her that isn't ready to be subdued and Ignis actually welcomes her out into the open... for now...

Meryda put the truck into park just outside of the chocobo stables and flicked the ignition off. Jerking the keys out, she clambered from the truck onto to be met with her significant other waiting for her on the other side. “Don’t touch me.” She growled at him, her eyes lit up in pure annoyance and shading to violent when he smirked at her.

The fall months had been rather difficult this year with a flare up in thunderstorms and rampaging herds that didn’t belong in the area. As always, Lestallum’s makeshift walls that had been erected after the darkness settled over the land, held, however numerous patch jobs had been put up with the influx of water in certain locations that weren’t used to accomodating it. For the past month, Meryda’s daily routine had been tossed up in the air. The children were rebelling with the lack of presence that the soldiers often maintained in the house, and therefore they, the boys especially, were attempting to assert themselves and Meryda wasn’t having it.

And she certainly wasn’t having it from Ignis! Glaring a hole in the side of his head, she gathered her coat tighter around her and stalked into the stables with the man behind her, hot on her heels. “Come now Darling. There’s no need to be upset.”

“Upset!?” Meryda whirled around on her smug looking boyfriend and jabbed an insistent finger in the center of his chest. “Why would I be upset praytell?” She demanded in a flourish, waving her arms in the air as she promptly lost her cool. “Would I be upset that you have been gone twenty five out of the past thirty days and then you walk into that house like the Astrals gift and everyone just listens to you!” Was she losing her edge? What in the hell was happening with her! When she was sixteen she was commanding Tenebrae soldiers who didn’t dare cross her and not just because their Prince would have had their heads.

They had been legitimately scared of her. Now she had a house full of adolescents and toddlers that didn’t even bat an eye when she started to rage. Her pride couldn’t take many more hits. 

Ignis tried not to smirk as Meryda’s lack of decorum went from mild to insane. The children were giving her a difficult time as of late now that their routine was all shaken up with the lack of attention they were receiving from the soldiers. Daemons were sprouting up all over the place, which wasn’t usually a rough task to take on, but with the storms and the migration patterns of the beasts in the area terribly eratic, hunting for either survival or food had turned into a toss up. Ignis and Gladio had been out in the field while Prompto and Maery took care of the household anytime Meryda and Miva had to rush out to tend to the wounded, both human and animal.

With the town in a tizzy and consequently the children feeding off of the chaos and acting like they were living beneath an eternal full moon, Meryda hadn’t been doing well with the lack of control in her environment. He knew he couldn’t laugh or chide her, but when she was wound up like this…

Well…

It rather turned him on. Quite a bit.

There was something about hearing and feeling her unleash on him where all of her carefully maintained limits were thrown by the wayside and in the wake of their loss, stood a hot blooded, fierce warrior ready for the hunt. Rarely anyone pushed into his space, or dared to impose upon his person by lashing out physically, but she did all of those things and more. He also knew just how to push her buttons so that she was nearly unhinged. 

Ignis was a man who had always enjoyed control and a certain level of submissiveness in those around him and he had been sure he would want it with Meryda as well. What he had learned after their years together was that she gave as good as she got, and even when she was docile beneath him, it wasn’t a testament to his strength, it was because she allowed him that control. 

He loved what he could do to her, the way she let him command her gorgeous body into the throes of passion they had only ever explored with one another. Ignis knew that his tastes could border on disturbing at times, but each time he tested the waters, Meryda met him touch for touch, sometimes pushing his own limits into the flaming inferno of exquisite sensation. There were areas of their sexual desires that he still wanted to dive into with her, and he had a feeling that tonight he would get the opportunity. Meryda was almost at his breaking point and if he struck just right and the precise moment, she would shatter apart.

“Are you listening to me Ignis!” Meryda had a wild look in her gaze that of course he couldn’t see, but the air around her had charged with danger and that he could feel. Beating against his person like a battering ram to a thick oaken door that refused to budge. He took the brunt of her frustration, he wanted to soak it in. “It is rather difficult not to hear you Darling. You are shouting rather loudly mere inches from my face.”

If Meryda could have, she would have slapped the man across his face, but she would not go that far. This was not a battlefield and Ignis was not her enemy. Probably… wasn’t her enemy. Sucking in a rough breath that did nothing to calm her, the blond spun on her heel and stalked toward Randall, who had been watching her display with a wicked grin on his face.

“A little hot under the collar there Mery. It looks pretty good on ya…” The air in his lungs was choked in the center of his throat, Meryda’s strong fingers closing in around his windpipe in warning.

“Not another word.” She told the old man, blue fire spitting its ire against his body.

Randall gulped as best he could past the woman’s tight grip and nodded in acceptance of her authority. “S-sorry Meryda.” Clearing his throat, the taller hunter smoothed out his clothes and tried to resituate himself into a more manly posture. At 6’5 and as broad as any soldier she had ever known, the elder man was just as rough and tumble as those soldiers, but like the ones she had once known, he caved beneath her power. The submission pleased the warrior in her and once a smile on her face, she motioned for him to express just why they were here. “Out with it.” 

Ignis sauntered up behind his wayward lover to listen to the directives Randall had to give so that he could begin to prepare a plan of attack for their mission. 

Mission

Departure - Ignis irritates Meryda. Tells her what to do. They both end up filthy and covered in mud. Get the chocobo back, clean her down and put her into her pen.

********

The gate clicked shut behind the unphazed bird that had sent Meryda and Ignis on a wild goose chase in the middle of a storm for the better part of two hours. They had returned with enough time to miss the lightning, but in the moments it had taken to clean the animal and then themselves, the bolts of hot white heat moved in over Lestallum.

“We cannot possible risk going back out in this.” Ignis was beside the door to gauge the weather outside. Continuous streaks of energy flickered over his face in warning to not venture out into the darkness. “We will have to remain here until it passes. Raymond has a small room upstairs for when he has to stay overnight with the chicks. I shall go look for some blankets.” 

They were both sopping wet from hosing off all of the mud that had gotten on them from the tumble they had taken in trying to get to the black bird that found its way down a hillslide. They didn’t dare try the slope to return, and instead had to take the long way around with the temperamental creature who wouldn’t stop squawking in response to the storm. The bird was lucky it was still alive, because if it wasn’t going to be the storm to down it, it would have been Meryda or Ignis for how stupid a creature it was. There was always one bad one in a bunch, and this one was it.

Meryda had barely said a word to Ignis the entire time they had returned. She kept her back to him while he bustled about in the downstairs office for blankets or towels but eventually she set herself in motion. Inside the office there was a radio that she could use to communicate with the house to let them know they were all right.

Shifting the dial to the appropriate channel, Meryda waited a few seconds when a small voice responded. “ORphanage.”

“Baby? Is that you?” Meryda asked hopefully, not realizing she had needed to hear her daughter’s voice until that moment.

“Hi mama. It’s me! You ok?”

“Yes we’re fine baby. We can’t get back right now. We may be stuck here for the night. Tell your aunts ok?”

“Ok mama! I love you.”

“Love you too baby.” Meryda’s body sagged beneath the weight of her clothes and the pressure of the past month. She had barely seen her daughter though they lived in the same house and the times they had spent, she had been irritated and annoyed.

Which she still was. “What?” Meryda could feel Ignis’ presence all around her, pushing and prodding at her sensitive nerves until they were screaming for retribution.

Ignis sighed. “We would have been home had you just listened to me.” He couldn’t help himself some days, he just didn’t know when to stop!

Meryda inhaled a shaky breath for patience but when there was none to be had, she walked away instead. She loved Ignis, she really did, but when he was like this she just couldn’t stand him! “Fine.” Which was her go to whenever she needed a conversation to end.

The woman snatched up a large blanket that Randall kept in his office, so it wasn’t a scratchy woolen one for the chocobos, and headed toward the top floor which was accessible both from the office and four sets of ladders. She was taking the stairs. “And you know what! Your way isn’t always the right way!” She knew better, she really did!

Ignis scoffed as he followed her up the stairs, “Oh Darling, that’s adorable. We’ve been together this long, surely you have realized by now that my way is always the right way.” He said in a haughty register that caused her to throw her wet clothing directly at his face.

Letting her shirt fly, then followed by the pants she nearly tripped over getting out of, she even let her panties, bra and socks launch in the man’s direction. By the time he was done peeling her sopping wet clothing from his face, Ignis was no longer very calm. “A bit childish don’t you think?” 

Meryda hated when he scolded her. A brow quirked in challenge on her face and she faught down the urge to find anything else to throw at him. Her boots and coat were downstairs by the large shower unit to dry. “Childish? Says the man who has to act so pompous even when it is just to get under my skin.”

Ignis smirked back and took one step forward. “It works though. You’ve never been able to handle your temper. It’s rather easy to get you to crack.” And that’s what he was working toward here. He missed her, her attention that she didn’t have the time for at the moment because everything else that could possibly happen to garner it continued to crop up. He wanted her attention damnit!

But Meryda was too far gone to realize what Ignis was doing, which was pouting because he had gone neglected for a time. Usually she would approach him, attempt to soothe his hurts and then take him to bed where they would make love until she was a trembling mass of nerve endings that couldn’t discern pleasure from pain anymore.

He was an exquisite lover, giving in ways most men neglected just so they could rush to the end and be done with it. Ignis loved to play, to chase his pleasure and to draw hers out until her body was certain to perish beneath it. The things he did to her…

The things he made her want to do with him… It frightened her at times how quickly he could push her boundaries of decency and civility into something almost possessive and dark. He called it fire but she called it dangerous and it was exactly what he was pushing her to in this moment. Usually she could get away from the magnetism of his energy, but tonight she was feeding off of it liberally. 

“You’re not so smooth either Scientia…”

“Oh no? I’m not the one throwing a fit like a toddler. It’s quite unbecoming Darling.” He drew out her little pet name, changing it from an endearing term into a term of condescension. 

“You’re unbecoming. Always pushing… you think you’re so smug.”

“Aren’t I? It isn’t my fault you cannot handle yourself appropriately.”

They were nose to nose, breath fighting into their lungs as they gravitated around the other in a slow, predatory dance. Ignis turned with Meryda as she stalked the perimeter of his body, always ready, waiting for her to lash out. He wanted it.

So did she. Far too much. “Stop it Ignis.” She was still dripping wet, nude above the chocobo pens but secluded enough that should they do anything, they wouldn’t disturb the birds. Her body was agitated with the feel of her hair sticking to her face and shoulders in haphazard strips. It made her want to scratch and claw until she was free of the anger boiling beneath her flesh that had begun to prickle in the humid air.

“Make me.” Ignis taunted her, pushing all of the buttons he knew to push and then he went further. “Though I doubt you could. You seem to be losing your touch as of late… Perhaps you need a man to step in and coddle you while you weep about all of your life’s troubles.” She needed no man and he knew it. He was honored to be within touching distance of this Goddess and he knew that as well, but his beloved had let him go too long without her affections and now he was playing dirty to get her to come play with him.

Part of Meryda, the weary and worried portion of her mind, knew what Ignis was doing, but the battle hardened warrior in her that had been raised to be her own woman who would never, ever, bow down to a man, roared in warning for the upcoming slaughter.

Meryda traipsed around Ignis until she was at the back of him, she was seemingly the picture of ice cool calm. Wherever that minute amount of control had come from, vacated as quickly as it had come. Her bright blue gaze shot open at Ignis’ back, the inferno waging war within burned down the man’s back, watching his muscles tighten in preparation.

Sweet anticipation. Ignis’ hands twitched at his sides, his thick member hardened rapidly as Meryda devoured him through sight alone and then at long last, she touched him. Her teeth bared down into his shoulder until he let loose a low groan of complete satisfaction. “More.”

“No.” Meryda snarled. He wanted her? Well he was going to get it.

Kicking at the back of his knees to drop him, he reached around and grabbed at her legs in an attempt to put her on her back under him. Meryda looped her arm around Ignis’ corded neck for balance, and then through her weight into his chest so that she dropped him against the hay littered upper deck. “I said no.”

“And I said make me.” He growled up at her with a hiss, turning his own mouth to the thick flesh against his cheek, the center between her upper thigh and knee, and bit down into her just as roughly as she had done him. 

Meryda’s hand fisted down into Ignis’ hair, caught in a tug of war on whether or not she wanted to pull him away or keep him close. The lave of his tongue against her abused leg decided for her. She held him close, almost rocking her lower body against his chest but there wasn’t the friction she needed. 

“You think this is easy for me? You think I don’t want you?” He had made her come alive beneath his talented hands and lips, branded her as his and now no one else could ever come close to the shining beacon of ecstacy Ignis had become in her world. It wasn’t just the sex, it was the whole package of him that before, after and during, she felt like she was the only person who existed for him. “You think I haven’t wanted to take you to bed and have you? That my body hasn’t ached for your touch.” Her voice trembled as her upset and desires tried to mesh but rebounded spectacularly against her anger.

There she is… Ignis’ smile widened as he touched upon the dangerous little feline his Meryda kept locked away from the rest of the world. She was fierce, with sharp claws and teeth that would slice with but a prick of their touch. Lesser men would have shied away, told her she was being hysterical and ridiculous, but when Ignis had started down this path with her those few years ago, he had promised that he would have all of her.

That all of this woman, the good, bad, ugly, deranged, and beautiful would be all his. What he had learned in those few short years of loving her, was that she fit all the parts of him other women had been too timid to take on or even attempt the effort. Hissing at her tight grip in her hair, Ignis slid his fingers toward her bared sex that was already so wet and ready for him. “Come to me my darling… let me please you... “ The time for play was over, she had broken and now he would piece her back together until she was whole and safe in his arms.

Meryda whimpered, but followed Ignis’ insistent hands that guided her lower body up until it was perched above her soldier’s handsome face. “Iggy…” This was not the first time he had acquainted his mouth with her pleasure center, but it was the first time she felt like she would lose herself and press for the fall above him. “I’m too big…” She wasn’t small and she had always been so worried to smother him or at the very least, disgust him.

Ignis growled lower and swatted her behind with a harsh tap that rang out loudly through the electrified atmosphere. “Enough. Come to me… ride me, use me until you come.” His tone was almost pleading and when she lowered tentatively to his waiting mouth, Ignis reached up with a long agile tongue and licked her from entrance to that little bundle of nerves already standing at attention for its reward.

Meryda made a high pitched keening noise in her throat, her lower body surging down against the insistent muscle branding her flesh with wicked strokes as her chest slumped to the floor. She was so wired and so painfully aroused that she would come in no time. “Iggy… It’s good… too good.” She whimpered, one hand still tangled around dirty blond strands, while the other braced against the rough planks beneath her.

Without warning or preamble, two long, glorious fingers sunk deep within her wet heat and this time Meryda nearly lost her proverbial footing. Somehow she kept her knees braced above Ignis’ head, but it was growing harder and harder as the seconds ticked by and this man all but gorged himself on her body. Ignis was a concert of growls and groans that ripplied straight from her folds only to detonate up her spine where tendrils of bliss let loose to consume her. Her breasts bunched, nipples pulled so tight she wanted to rub at them for relief, and that’s when she felt it.

The all consuming plummet that was looming below her like Leviathan’s seas crashing and writhing in wait to swallow her up. “No…” She grunted, not ready for this to end. Summoning the last of her strength, Meryda pulled clear of Ignis and slumped to the ground in a bid to catch her breath and her senses.

Ignis bit off a battle worthy snarl as Meryda removed herself from each inch of his torturous touches. He flipped to his knees, almost sprinting forward to get back to her but in the nick of time, her knee raised to impend his progress. Good… you’re still with me… A dark voice purred through his mind, pleased that his little fighter wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. 

He had gone too far to get numerous orgasms out of her wired body, tonight he would have to claw and scrape together his last shreds of sanity to get her to one, but the moment it arrived…

There weren’t ways to describe what she felt like. They had chased this intensity once together, and never on this level of a high, so he knew they were in for a beautiful crashing fall into the darkness. Kissing along her knee and downward to that aching center he wanted to taste more of, Ignis beseeched her. “Tell me what you want my darling… “

She loved when he talked to her. There was something about his voice when it was as low as it could go, like crushed velvet against the skin, it was lush and nearly obscene. Meryda whimpered, reaching to pinch at her taut nipples, bracing her knees against Ignis’ hips when he convinced her body to let him come closer. Oh the feel of him…

He was damp, hot and all hard compact muscle that she wanted to feel gliding against her, pressing her into the hard ground until she bruised. “How do you bring me to these things?” She was a warrior, no stranger to a little pain, but he used it against her so that even in the aftermath she grew moist each time her muscles protested about their previous activities. That sweet ache in her thighs or the tightening of her non existent abdominals that fought for relief when he wanted to really tease her. 

“To what beloved? Pleasure?”

“Pain.” Meryda whined, arching her hip toward the taunting teeth trailing her skin. Ignis’ arms were tangled amongst her legs, his lips working along her hips and rounded belly while his chest anchored her open and waiting. If she tilted her hips just right she could almost get friction…

Ignis grinned wickedly against her hip bone. “Pain? I would never hurt you my darling. I know what you like. I know that sometimes you like when I’m in charge… pushing your limits until they fray. Other times… I know you want me like this. Desperate to please you, to watch you come alive under me until you’re demanding your release.” Not begging, demanding. She would demand it of him, and like a good soldier, he always complied.

Meryda wiggled in an attempt to get the pressure she needed fro that mouth but just when she thought she had him, he moved and found a new area to torment. “You’re always in charge.” Her tone was just this side of accusing, as she nearly bucked the man above up and off of her. 

Ignis slid the rest of the way up the plush curves he called his own, using his weight to pin her down so that her senses were completely invaded by the feel of him. Just him. “Silly girl… Haven’t you realized just how easily you control me in return? How feeling you like this has me so hard it is like torture.” He licked a line along her jaw line straight to her lips that were already parted, ready and waiting.

Delving his tongue past the barrier of her lips, Ignis swallowed down her moans and produced one of his own as he slid home into her quivering sheath up to the hilt. “Gods… So tight and hot for me tonight my Darling. You’re exquisite…” 

“More,” Meryda whimpered through clenched teeth, her hands anchoring to Ignis’ body in a desperate prayer for sanity to come back to her. The spell of his voice, body and that sinful mouth were threatening to consume her beneath their pull.

“More what Darling? Shall I recount just how you feel against me?” He hummed against her ear, clenching her firm behind in his greedy palm, flexing against the muscle so that he pushed her up into his shallow thrusts. “Tell me… Do I feel good here? Am I deep enough? Can you feel me enough? Paint me a picture Darling… Sometimes I wish I could watch you, lost to me, as I thrust inside of your willing body. I wish I could see the look in your eyes when pleasure devours you alive, or watch what my cock looks like as your body takes me in and releases me.” 

His words were a lewd caress that reached everywhere inside of her and set that wild inferno past the point of no return. One hand in wild blond strands, and the other digging tight into his hip, Meryda pulled Ignis’ mouth to hers and nipped at his taunting tongue that reached past the barrier of his lips to lick at hers. Just the tip, he touched it to her own and she began to shake. Swallowing the devilish little muscle, she sucked it into her mouth and found another resevoir of strength she wasn’t aware she possessed.

Ignis hit his back and felt Meryda rise above him, stretching her knees wide so that he was rubbing against her little bundle of nerves that had been forgotten for the time being. “A picture?” She began in her rich alto that was hazy with need. There was a rasp that colored her words, the sound like a low grade sandpaper working its way all over his erogenous zones. 

Slowly, she began to rotate her hips, allowing the pressure inside to take place of the fluid thrusts from earlier so that she could stave off her end that much longer. Her muscles had begun to knot, her belly tight with anticipation, but she wanted it to last tonight until she was screaming to the heavens that were pouring down around them beyond the stable.

A picture? Licking her lips, she brought her fingers up to wet them and then put them to work against the firm nipples on the muscled chest beneath her. A soft groan was the first benediction, the second, that unhinged growl she had come to love hearing from him. “You always feel good inside of me Ig-gy…” her breath caught, her head tipping back as she found that glorious spot inside that made her quiver all over. “No one has ever felt the way you have. Thick… you take up every inch of room I have and stretch me for more. When I come I can feel the imprint of you against my walls even long after you aren’t inside of me.”

His head lolled back, hips arching upward into the tight clenching sheath and then slowly, he licked his lips, imaging it was her tongue against them. “Slower angel… take your time.” Ride me… use me for everything you could ever want. His mind had began to haze over, unable to think much less function as Meryda led them both down the path of bliss. He kept his hands at her thick hips, loving how they felt swaying beneath his fingertips that were digging into her skin.

Prying her eyes open, gazing down into his haunted eye and scarred features, Meryda lost herself to the pleasure coloring his face. Flushed and on the edge of aching pleasure, he looked so beautiful. A work of art just for her eyes to see this way, disheveled and wrecked from that enigmatic profile he provided for the masses. Meryda didn’t want it. She had never needed it of him. This! This side of this man was what she always needed. That piece of Ignis he subdued to the shadows for duty and propriety.

Leaning down so that her body scraped against his sharply defined muscles, they both moaned when her nipples caught and tugged against his pectorals as she moved. She licked a long line up his throat, to his chin and then those full lips she couldn’t get enough of. “You always make me feel so good Iggy. No other man could give me this. Could touch me… make me come apart… Gods Iggy.” She let a whine cascade into her tone, something high and wanting as it caressed the shell of his ear. “I need you hard. I just want to feel you. I want to come so hard for you. All around you. I want you to make me scream… I need it so bad Ignis.” Somewhere in all of this it had been her to ply him with demands but no longer.

Her body was starting to cramp in an impending promise that she was hurtling toward the edge of oblivion at full speed. She needed his strength to bring her home. “Please…”

Ignis was on his feet, Meryda wrapped around him while he remained buried deep inside of her soaking channel. Striding up to the nearest wall, he pressed her to it and then going a step further, linked one of her knees over the crook of his arm so that he could get leverage against the button that would send her flying apart in his arms. With an agonizingly slow move, Ignis withdrew and then reseated as far as she could take him. He repeated the action until Meryda was panting against his cheek, her hands clenching and unclenching against his shoulders.

The time for words was over, all that could be heard beyond the thunder and lighting beyond the stables were the grunts and growls of two lovers lost to their passion. The minutes ticked on, turning to long stretches of ten and then twenty as the two explored every surface available to them and at long last, Meryda’s entire body vibrated wildly with the finish her lover visited upon her. Going rigid, eyes blown wide and unseeing, she screamed against Ignis’ sweaty shoulder in release and felt him follow after with a roar of satisfaction echoing off of the walls and her ear drums.

Sprawled on the small bed that was far more kind than many places they had tested, Meryda nuzzled at the gorgeous creature above her and felt the tears come. “Darling?” His fingers were already wiping her tears, his head lifted in concern as she struggled for breath.

“It… it was just such a rush.” She tried to explain as best she could but how was it even remotely possible to describe something like what they had just shared? It was like he had turned her inside out and rubbed up against every single nerve ending she had, overstimulating her to the point of such sweet, exquisite agony that she would never be the same. 

“It was indeed.” He nuzzled her gently in return, relief pounding through him that she wasn’t in any pain or that he hadn’t pushed her too far. “I meant nothing I said earlier…” Again he was apologizing for the games he played, but like always Meryda smacked him roughly on his butt for his folly.

“I know what you are doing Ignis. Though this time I appreciate it… I had a rough week.”

“That you did. And we shall clear it up together with the children when we return home.” He did not tolerate rudeness in his household and especially toward the woman who worked like a slave for those children when she had to hold down the fort without the rest of the team. None of them deserved it and there would be words.

Curling into the strong arms already doing their job and holding her, Meryda sighed heavily against Ignis’ chest and placed a tender kiss above his heart beat. “I’m exhausted.” Both emotionally and physically. But she was happy. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure… quite literally. Though I do believe it was yours as well, no?” 

Meryda sighed softly in amusement. “Don’t ever temper your ego Ignis. Ever.” This man was too much on his good days and far past tolerable on his bad ones. But she loved him and every time he praised himself it turned her on just a little more than it had before.

The best part…

She knew he loved her too. Even when she was a pain in his ass.

************

This just came up and I kind of made it part of the little series. Hope you enjoyed a bit of smut with somewhat of a purpose...


	3. Lightning Strikes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A month later… Meryda has been taking on more responsibilities outside of the house and Ignis is less than impressed.

The rain was pouring down in angry waves from the sky above, the clashes of lighting and thunder rocking the land below as the wind howled in rage. The storms had been bad this year, much to the point that the soldiers, hunters, and any able man or woman who could go out on hunts and missions were sent. Which was why Meryda was caught out on a night like this and her boyfriend was absolutely beside himself with fury.

Prompto and Maery hadn’t said a word when they departed in the truck after Ignis had ordered them away once it was unloaded with materials he and Meryda would require for the night. The two lovers didn’t utter a word to one another as the rain continued to pound down around them.

Ignis was in a complete snit and Meryda wasn’t far behind him, but they had both been gearing for this fight with someone for a while, and it just so happened the target they had both found was the other. So be it.

Meryda turned first and stalked into the house, back toward the single room where the fire was already burning in the hearth. Ignis wasn’t far behiind, stripping out of his shirt and boots before wiping his pants down so that they weren’t dripping on the floor. Once he was cleaned up he stalked to Meryda and began to pull her pants and boots off of her body none too gently. Eventually the jerking movements brought her down onto the sleeping bag he had unzipped and spread out on the ground in front of the fire.

The two struggled worlessly for a few moments when Ignis finally got the upper hand. “I said, Lay down.” The words were bitten out of his mouth, just this side of unhinged and though Meryda narrowed her brilliant blue orbs at the man in outrage to be ordered around, she rested back onto her elbows as complacently as she could.

Ignis had returned home to find out that Maery and Meryda went out into the field to take care of a demon that got through a dark part of the city wall that had been shorted out due to the storms. Unfortunately all of the extra spot lights were in use, so someone had needed to eradicate the thing before it did more damage. When he arrived, the girls had downed the beast, but Meryda had incured a wound during the battle and Ignis was furious.

His protective side had been almost unbearable for the past few months as it usually became when he was running on little sleep and far too many emergencies. Now, he was dealing with another emergency and the woman he loved was going to take the brunt of his anger.

Features drawn tight in unexpressed fury, Ignis ripped the shirt from Meryda’s body and then unceremoniously tore apart her cotton bra so that he could get to the bleeding. The scrape started from the top of her left breast and slanted downward to the top of her hip bone on the right side. It wasn’t deep, however there was magic infused in the wound and that would cause discomfort. His fingers were trembling he was so angry, as they assessed the damage done. Meryda was already healing and the bleeding was nonexistant. 

Maery and herself had dragged the beast from the city as far as they could go, using an abandoned farm house as a point to their hunt and because there had been an extra spot light set up in this location. Thankfully it had worked, and they were able to do most of the damage with the light, unfortunately one of them had been required to be bait and Meryda drew the short stick. Now, she was wounded, the beast was dead, her boyfriend had told Maery to return to the house, and they were cooped up in the rundown old house, tucked back in one of the bedrooms that was mostly undamaged thanks to being in the center of the house.

Ignis had started the fireplace and brought in the camping gear he had stored in the back of the truck he and Prompto had used over the past week. Her eyes catalogued each and every motion he made about her body, noting his outrage as it tightened across his face. The flicker of the firelight made it all stand out even more and it felt like it was turning into a living entity in the room around them. Usually she would be worried that he was in such a snit, but today she wasn’t prepared to back down. Unfortunately, she was also angry and mightily turned on.

There was something about Ignis when he was dominate that overwhelmed her common sense and made her want to push against it until he lost his perfect facade of calm that he wore for the world. “Almost done?” She grunted when his fingertip dug slightly into the gaping wound. A twist made her hiss and raise up onto her palms to stare her significant other down for the rough treatment. “Knock it off.” She growled out in anger, not at the fact he had purposefully scraped her cut, but because he was upset with her for doing her duty.

Nose to nose, Ignis’ breathing deepened, his body having grown painfully alert to Meryda’s and the fact that she was aroused by her battle heightened senses and his domineering response to her position. “Excuse me?” He gritted out through his clenched teeth, her breath on his face a distraction that made him shudder. He wanted her, badly. Every muscle bunched in preparation for the attack and when she lightly head butted him, he almost lunged.

“I said knock it off. It’s normal that I have to pull my weight.” And it had felt good to be in the field and not on the sidelines. The pain of her wound was a badge of honor for her that she could still fight. This was her reminder that she was made for more than just the house, and that she could help in keeping Lestallum safe. 

“You do. At home. With the children.” Ignis pushed in on this stubborn woman, trying to force her to the sleeping bag he had placed on the ground in front of the fire so that she could have some comfort. Maery had returned home, but he hadn’t been able to bring that level of pure unadultered rage back to the house for the children to be witness to. So, they had stayed behind in hopes that he would calm down and he was far from calm.

Insulted, Meryda pushed forward on Ignis so that he was forced backward onto his butt and she was perched above him on her knees. “You always knew I could fight. And you can’t complain when you come home wounded too. I was doing my part. It was necessary. You were all out, we were the next logical choice.” Meryda didn’t hold back her temper now as she all but snarled at the man beneath her. How dare he tell her she was made to be home with the children! Technically she knew it wasn’t an insult, that he wanted to keep her safe from everything cruel and ugly in this darkened world, but even he couldn’t hope to do that.

And Ignis loathed that he could not protect this woman from everything, that at times he had to let her shoulder the burdens of a world overrun and dangerous for those who still lived. It’s why he was so furious now. That and the people running Lestallum thought they knew how to handle a crisis, but they were no more equipped for war than the toddlers running around the orphanage. That infuriated him further because he had stood by for too long allowing others to lead when they had no business doing so. Still, he wouldn’t let Meryda overpower him tonight when he felt so terribly helpless.

Putting his hand onto her shoulder, he pushed her backwards until she was seated as he had been but he wasn’t satisfied yet. He wanted to feel her beneath him, compliant and docile where he knew she was safe. Not thinking about what he was doing, just knowing her will was battering itself against his own, he continued to apply pressure until her back met the interior padding of the green sleeping back beneath them. 

Meryda struggled momentarily at being pushed down, but when Ignis’ fingers dug into her shoulder in reprimand for her lack of compliance, she allowed him to ease her back. His body was taut, primed for an attack and when she gazed into his striking face, she saw the beast within ready to be unleashed. It clawed and ripped at this man’s perfection and she felt her breath halt when she realized what was culminating between them.

The air was electrified, the crackle of the fire pulsing wildly against his eardrums as the heat licked up his skin that was finally beginning to dry. His thick leather pants were the only real barrier between him and the female beneath and it wouldn’t take long to rid his body of them. He wanted her, desperately. “Meryda…” His voice was deep and husky, pleading with her to tell him no, but she never wanted to obey him.

This was a dangerous precipice to traverse, but they had been hurtling toward it for a few weeks now as every moment of their lives had been dedicated to anyone else but the other. They were three glorious years into their relationship and Meryda had never seen this side of him. The tips of his nails sunk into her shoulder, not enough to break the skin but plenty deep to leave a mark. Her darkened eyes took in the sight of lean muscled flesh slick with evaporating droplets and it was in that moment she knew exactly what she wanted from this body above hers. She had known it since she saw him out in the rain but hadn’t made up her mind to snap her leash and run free. “Fuck me Ignis.” Meryda breathed out into the night air. The words caught her off guard and colored a blush on her round cheeks, but she wouldn’t take them back.

The blond soldier sucked in a ragged breath, his jaw tightening as her erotic demand latched ahold of his cock and delivered a solid stroke. “Not this way…” He was not a beast, or an animal, but God he did crave this wild side they both had only ever played at, but never had they thrown themselves across the invisible barrier. Would she fall beneath him, wild with abandon and come apart in his arms until her throat was hoarse with screaming and all he could feel was her and nothing else? He hoped so. Tonight he didn’t want the rest of the world around him to even factor into his awareness. 

Still, something held him at bay from pulling the world in around them both only to send her screaming up to the beyond that loomed overhead. 

When he refused her in his silence, Meryda lost her temper. She put her hands to his chest and smacked the hard pectorals, until he had rough red marks on his chest and his stability waivered. He still didn’t respond, and even went so far as to pull away from holding her down so that he could recoil from her reach. The place he had anchored his hand to was red and the moon shaped bites from his nails were still indented in her skin. She wanted more. Wanted to feel those wicked digits dig deep into all of the hidden places she possessed and inflict the same delicious pain. Ignis moved to crawl back and away, but she caught his ankle and gave him a firm tug and he went sprawling onto his face.

Ignis reacted, not thinking about who was behind him, as his free leg lashed out to curl around Meryda’s upper body, pushing her chest downward until she was subdued. His heel gained purchase on the ground when she tried to force him away, and when he went to take her free hand, she jabbed him hard in his side causing his leg to slacken. Determined hands reached, but he rolled up onto one knee with his free foot planted to lunge should he need. 

Meryda mirrored Ignis’ pose, watching, waiting, ready for him as the thrill of the fight pushed through her. She hadn’t felt this alive in a long time and it was going to be hard to give up. Instead of making a move, she taunted him. “Come at me Ignis… Now.” Her eyes were wide to make sure that she didn’t miss a single moment to come. 

This man was a warrior, all focused grace and agility that amazed her when she saw him in action. Tonight she wanted it to be used on her. Eventually he lost the battle at being commanded by someone else, and made his move. Viciously fast, he sprang forward but instead of wrapping around her waist to pummel her to the floor, he pivoted to fly around her so that he was at her back with his arm securely tightened over her midsection. Meryda lost her footing and went face first into the ground.

They tumbled and rolled, each striving for the upper hand. Ignis knew this woman was a warrior but she was out of practice, though she was putting him through his paces. Either way, she wound up face first into the hard wood floor just as she had been when they began their little match.

Ignis pushed her squirming frame harder into the unforgiving wooden floor boards, then changed his grip so that he possessed her hands and spread them up above her head as he all but laid on top of her. In his position, she could feel the hardness of his member pressing into her cotton clad behind and it made her cry out in frustration. She couldn’t get out from under him, nor could she remove her wrists from his unforgiveable grip. “You will be mine. You will submit…” As if to emphasize his point he darted out his tongue to lap at the shell of her ear before biting it roughly as a warning against the insolence she was contemplating in that traitorous mind of hers.

Body stretched to an abnormal length, Meryda fought for freedom, but it was for naught. Each time she gained an inch, Ignis tightened his hold and forced her further into the hard flooring. Her breasts ached under the weight and the desire she felt taking over her limbs as she began to shake. The wounds on her body no longer registered as a problem for her, now that all she could feel, could want was Ignis. Marking her, making her his after their long absence apart. “Make me.” Meryda moaned as Ignis had begun to nuzzle at her neck, using his tongue to paint patterns into her skin that made promises to other parts of her body that had long missed his touch.

Challenge registered deep in his mindset and without preamble, he responded to such blatant denial of his authority. Releasing her wrists, Ignis bit her side harshly as he worked down her back when she reached for him and back above her head they went. “Don’t disobey me… or you shall not receive what you want.” He offered the verbal warning as her final one, his tone low and soft, like a caress of thunder bubbling out over the hills and valleys of her body.

Ignis’ pursuits down her incredibly sensitive flesh, his mouth dragging against every inch of her to touch upon sweet spots she didn’t realize made up the canvas of her smooth skin, eventually reached the rounded flare of her bottom and when he sank his teeth into one cheek, she groaned. “Harder.”

Ignis obliged with a ragged growl of restrained lust, and when he withdrew to pull at the little cotton panties that had done nothing to protect her skin, he trailed the tip of his index finger across the little indentations he had left with his teeth. With an agile tongue he lapped at the offensive marks and then lower to Meryda’s thighs. “Already so wet for me Meryda… I can smell you so clearly.” He wanted to shove his face between her thighs and inhale deeply before he took possession of her lower lips with his mouth, but he had other plans. That would come later when she was complacent and her beautiful mouth would fall open to answer his every request without a single inflection of disobedience.

Meryda pressed her forehead against the flooring as Ignis manipulated her body up onto its knees. Then he parted her thighs so wide that she was completely exposed. “Ohhhh.” Her flesh ached so much it almost screamed for attention and then she felt those wicked long fingers drawing lines in and around her swollen gates. “Scientia…”

“No…” He blew out across her glistening flesh, the current of cool air causing Meryda to jolt backwards in hopes of more but he denied her. Still his hands never stopped moving, testing and taunting her saturated warmth that was beginning to dribble down the inside of her thighs. “Do you enjoy me being rough with you?” He purred out, his fingertips parting her labia only for his tongue to reach out to lick a long line up to her opening where he slowly inserted his tongue. The desperate channel immediately clenched around him and he grinned to feel her taste seep against his tongue.

Meryda whimpered as she clawed at what was beneath her, but nothing would give her relief, not when Ignis was playing her body so sinfully that it was perfection. “Oh god Iggy please… I want you inside of me.” She wanted this too, but she needed something deeper before he took her pleasure from her body in this manner. Every inch of her skin was tight, like a sunburn trying to heal, and she needed relief from the burn. 

“Want what inside of you?” This time when he sank his teeth into her bottom, he did so on the other cheek and earned a slight scream from his beloved. They had touched upon this kind of play, but never to this extent, there had never been the time or occasion. Hearing and feeling Meryda ready and willing to be at his mercy, instead of cowed by his strength was an immense turn on for the pulled together soldier. It made him want to see what she could do when given the incentive.

“You… your cock. Inside me… Now.” She gritted out through her teeth as she struggled up to her elbows and then at long last she felt him pull clear and the sound of his pants unzipping rang out through the room before he was surging inside of her body without warning.

It was tight, snug, and exquisitely sharp as he surged in to the hilt. Reaching down Ignis spread apart her cheeks so that he could slip in further and bit off a soft curse when she contracted her tight sheath around him. The hand that had been on her hip tightened in warning, but she did it again regardless. “You tempt me…”

“You’re teasing me.” Meryda struggled to breath, the wonderful pressure of him this deep inside of her body and the pain that came from his buckle and pants scraping her sensitive flesh was a contradiction she couldn’t fully overcome in her mind. 

“Hold on.” Both hands shot to Meryda’s hips and then he was gone. Between the pressure of her body and her acceptance of this moment between them, Ignis wanted nothing more than to pound his body into hers until she was screaming. So he did. Relentlessly until the first quiver happened and then he reached down to find that little bundle between her thighs that would rejoice at the attention.

“Gods… YES...IGGY! More!!!!” Meryda all but came unhinged as her lover slammed his hips into hers and then those gorgeously long fingers were between her legs and her orgams completely overtook her.

Screaming into the ground, her fingers tightened into her palms even as her knees braced for Ignis’ finish despite the pain of the scrapes she had endured from the weathered wood beneath her. It didn’t matter. She had wanted this and to feel him at long last after fleeting touches and interrupted interludes that left her frustrated and angry, was ecstasy.

Before Ignis could find his own end, he ripped away from Meryda’s deliciously warm body and fell back onto his butt, panting at the energy it had taken to withdraw. He heard her slump forward but he fought down the instinct to go to her because if he did, then all of htis would come to an end far too soon.

When strong hands reached for her, Meryda let them maneuver and shift her body back to the blanket, her lower body relieved to be free of the hard ground as her back accomodated her new position. That was when she realized Ignis still hadn’t finished. “Ignis…” Meryda whimpered, holding her hands out for the man to come to her but he didn’t. She heard him stand to kick away his pants and then he was back between her perched legs.

“Not yet… I want to taste you.” Crawling up over her, he didn’t get too close to the pleasure center of her curvy body, knowing that if he did he would lose himself in her. The rage was depleted within him, but the lust was ever growing, if not a bit more calm. 

Meryda trembled, reaching out to stroke her arms up Ignis’ biceps and further along his upper arm until her hands reached the slightly damp locks of blond that were loose and wild about his gorgeously scarred face. She wanted his lips against hers, but had the feeling that wasn’t what he was going to offer. What he did, took her by surprise. 

Still very much in charge of the interlude, Ignis lowered his lips to the taut points of nerved flesh and mouthed them gently before whispering, “No speaking Meryda… I only want your sounds of pleasure.” He purred against the whimpering bud beneath his lips and then he set to his complete submission of her senses.

There were times not being able to see her drove him mad, he wanted to see what his actions and words did to her instead of just feeling it in her body, but tonight he would listen for every little hitch and sigh whispered from her swollen lips and it would sustain him for months to come. 

Starting against the pillows of flesh against her chest, Ignis kissed, licked and worshipped the skin with his mouth before letting his tongue dart out to catch the puckered point where he let it swirl in slow lazy circles. “You have such beautiful breasts darling. Your little nipples are tight and so responsive. It must hurt a little… “ Upon the word, he tightened the muscle inside of his mouth and wickedly flicked the straining tip before he repeated the action a few more times before finishing the sentiments she felt with his words.

Meryda fought down her words as the screams of bliss fled her lungs in a startled gasp of air. “Does that feel good my Darling.” Ignis breathed against her skin, taking hold of her neglected nipple to suck it into his mouth with rough draws against the skin. Another broken shout made its way past her lips, her brow furrowed in explicit concentration against the all too consuming pleasure.

Her body was ready and wanting of her lover all over again, Ignis having some form of super power that could make her hot and bothered with a simple touch of his fingertips to a specific location on her body only he knew. Each touch he pressed to her conveyed his desires. A trail of his hand across her bottom said he wanted her from behind, deep and slow.

His palms caressing down her arm promised that he wanted her against him from the front, molded into his body so that nothing could come between them. His hand on her cheek promised a tender moment of passion, while a love bite to her neck encouraged her wild side to peak out and meet his. One of her favorites, was when he immediately dropped his hands to the center of her body and she knew what was coming. Slow, fast, none of it mattered, as he would fully conquer her lower body until she was screaming in pleasure and pain. He knew how to twist her up in the agony of sweet sweet torture, and tonight he was promising it.

Ignis took his time making his way down her body, her thighs were already trembling against his sides, and her heated jiuces were slathered over his stomach. “You are very wet my love… I’m sure you taste divine. I can hardly wait… Can you? I’m sure you want to feel my tongue between her folds… licking slowly until at long last I reach your clit. What do you want tonight my darling?” 

Meryda couldn’t think on the question and she knew better than to answer because he had given her explicit instructions not to, but she still struggled to wrap her mind around what he was saying so that she could be somewhat prepared for what he was planning. Unfortunately, nothing could have prepared her. 

When Ignis finally arrived, her lush scent almost strangled him. Nearly forgetting his game he dove down, dragging his tongue straight through her folds to get a good taste before retreating to take a calming breath. Sliding his fingers to his lips, he licked two and slid them up Meryda’s body to pinch and twist at a nipple, before his other hand lightly tickled at the quivering skin of her inner thighs. “Hold yourself open for me.” He commanded softly, pleased when she didn’t hesitate to comply to his demand.

Meryda didn’t have it in her to deny him when it meant such wonderful things for her. Whimpering and shuddering underneath the strain of promised pleasure she almost growled when Ignis licked a long line up her inner thigh to her knee and back down again. “It has been a while hasn’t it darling? I am sure you have missed this… my mouth against you here…” As if to prove his point he pressed his open mouth to her bared folds and suckled against them only to withdraw his touch.

Meryda whined, a high pitched noise that echoed through the room as she struggled to maintain her grip on reality. If she gave this to Ignis, she knew he would allow her to reciprocate and she had plenty in mind. 

Ignis knew that she was struggling against her body’s demands and he adored her for it, but he had also made his own body wait long enough for all that he wanted from this woman. Falling to her, he played against her bared body with little licks, long licks, and then he would tighten his tongue and flick it right over her clit before drawing it into his mouth to suck. “Which do you want Darling? This…” flick flick flick “Or this?” suck.

That had been the question from earlier but Meryda was too far gone to even hope to reply or gesture which one was better. What she really wanted was to be filled while he made her come. He knew at this point in their relationship how she liked it, but he merely taunted at her entrance with his fingers and just when she thought he would slip one inside of her, he rotated around the entrance and then pulled away. Whimpering, she pulled her lower lips wider and shifted downward against the finger inching toward back toward the aching entrance of her body.

Ignis was so hard his entire lower body had begun to burn due to the strain. He could smell, hear and feel every little scent and tremor emanating off of Meryda and all of her desperate excitement finally ended his game. “Tell me darling. Speak.”

“I want your fingers inside of me. I want your tongue on my clit until I come. Then, put your mouth against me and taste all of it.” The last part was for him as that was often how he finished her, as long as they were willing to play a bit more before he had her again. Tonight would not be the case.

Ignis filled her without preamble, unable to restrain himself after such a clear directive thatMeryda rarely gsve. Gently at first, he put his tongue against her clit as she had demanded and began to work it until she was writhing and screaming out beneath him. The tremble of her body happened too fast for him to be able to withdraw and prolong her pleasure and then she came, hard and fast.

Body rigid, Meryda eventually went lax after the intensity ebbed out of her, but she continued to rock up in jerky movements into the mouth now busied at her quivering entrance, taking all that she had to offer. Without waiting, using the distraction of her finish to catch Ignis off guard, she flipped him with a twist of her hips and shimmied down his body, using her teeth against his flesh until she came to his straining point of pleausre where she worked him as deep as she could in a punishing pace.

Ignis felt like he had been dipped in water and then hit by a bolt of lightning as Meryda took over his own need without any gentility in her actions. Crying out to the ceiling, he reached for her hair and held on for dear life as she swallowed him down so that he came in contact with the back of her throat and then, she began to hum. “Oh… Gods… Meryda…. Yes Darling…” He hissed out through his teeth as his muscles clenched in response to her treatment of his body.

A bit too hasty and far to eager, Meryda released Ignis’ thick shaft with a soft pop of her mouth and lowered her lips to his hairless sac. For a man, Ignis always kept up with the upkeep of his body and she enjoyed it. He also helped her with her own grooming and that had been rather fun for both of them. She was far too excited for him to be tender, so when she sucked one small pouch into her mouth, and gently eased her teeth down, Ignis all but bucked her up and off of him.

The threat and danger in her touch was perfection but when she did it a second time, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching down to grab at the evil temptress and pull her up to his mouth. Possessing her completely, he felt her fumble for his shaft and then he was pressed inside of her, feeling only her wonderful heat taking him in until he was deep in her body once more.

Meryda wrapped her arms around Ignis’ back to keep him close, while her knees edged forward so that she was seated fully in his lap. One hand wound up into his thick hair and tugged harshly to the side so that his neck was bare. Licking her spot at the juncture between his shoulder and nape, she bit at him and then placed her lips to suck roughly against his skin.

“I do so enjoy when you are a bit rough.” It was a side of Meryda she had known was inside of her, but had never tried on until him. Ignis wasn’t a timid lover and he surely wasn’t fearful of a little pain, so when Meryda bit him during a rather passionate endeavour, it had been a wonderful sensation for him. She didn’t draw blood, nor did he, but it was an extra little possession or claim to the other and he for one, loved it. Reaching up he grabbed into her hair and reciprocated the gesture.

Meryda screamed out as she shifted back down onto the straining shaft inside of her, her walls tight and wanting, but she wasn’t sure she would work herself up fast enough before Ignis would come. He had put himself through a lot giving her two amazing orgasms, and it would nearly be impossible to get a third before his oversensitized body found its own. So she moved anyway, not allowing him a choice in the matter as her body took over for both of them. Ignis’ hands tightened on her body, one against her hip and the other at the breast he had teased into his mouth, while Meryda kept her pace, holding onto his head for stability as he began to play her body again. This did not sway her though as her hips twisted and swayed, pushing him onward until he went rigid beneath her, his shout of completion sounding off only to be swallowed by her eager lips that covered his.

Ignis was completely blind sided by the release that almost stole his consciousness from him due to its intensity. “Too long my Darling.” He heaved the words out against her chest, his arms tight around her body so that she was close. The way she had lashed out at his battle ready senses in the beginning had startled him, but now he couldn’t find a single complaint for their loss of temper. “You know I would never hurt you…” There were parts of him though that would never be quiet unless he checked on her first.

Meryda’s face softened at the tenderness in Ignis’ low voice. She nuzzled the tip of his nose tenderly and then gave him a kiss that said everything she felt inside. That this had been a necessity they had both been needing, and that she could feel no where safer but in his arms. “I know you would never. I told you a while ago I won’t break.” Despite what he wanted to believe, she had been raised to be a warrior and protector first and foremost. That was the role of her family for the royalty of Tenebrae. 

Even though her pension to rush out into battle drove him crazy at times, he was also immensely proud of her for the fact that she didn’t run and hide when situations rose up. “You are one of the strongest women I have ever met. You humble me.” He whispered against her temple that had come down to rest against his cheek as she laid her head onto his shoulder. “Forgive me… I know I have kept you locked up too often.” 

“You know I’ll leave when I can’t take it anymore. But you also know I won’t take on more than I think I can handle.” She knew her limits and she had a little girl and several other children who depended on her to understand and accept those limits. Meryda didn’t have the luxury of being flippant and stupid anymore when she was in the field. She knew that, even if it was a hard pill to swallow. 

“I know.” He murmured against her damp skin, now slicked with the sweat of their activities and the proximity of the firelight that had long since dried them from the outside storm. Ignis held tight to Meryda a little longer, unwilling and perhaps a little unable to let go of her so soon now that they were finally free of duties to the world around them. He was determined to make the most of this night however, and had known she neglected a final finish for herself to see to his needs, which he would not tolerate.

Meryda let out a soft squeal when Ignis rolled her beneath him and smiled up at the image before her. One eye open as though it was delving into the secrets of her soul, the other remained closed due to his wounds that had long ago healed, the rest of the canvas was painted with wild dirty blond locks tickling at his features and a wickedly promising smirk that broadened into a toothy white grin. “I’m not sure I have finished with you for the night.” His whisper was naughty, making her body clench around the rehardened member still sheathed inside of her.

“Oh thank the Gods… I didn’t want you to be finished with me.” Meryda wrapped her legs up around Ignis’ hips and sighed when he withdrew slowly, only to reseat within her just as slowly right up to the spot that would send her to screaming in minutes flat. 

“I love you my Darling.” He leaned down to kiss her, but she smacked his cheek instead, “What was that for…” Ignis yanked his head back from the woman beneath him and if he could have, he would be glaring at her.

“Don’t get soft on me now Ignis… I want more of you.” She teased, pinching his butt which earned her the removal of his body and a flip back to her knees. When he surged back inside of her she moaned wantonly into the blankets balled up in her fists. “That’s better.”

“So glad.” Ignis nipped at her back and returned to a slightly rougher force, mistreating her sweet spot with sharp thrusts until he had her lost in glorious sounds of ecstacy once more.

Over the course of the evening they returned back to the other, wrapped chest to chest, cheek to cheek, in a tangle of arms and limbs where Ignis once again whispered, “I love you my Darling…” Against Meryda’s sweaty cheek in the afterglow of their intensely emotional evening.

And this time, through her tears of pleasure, she whispered back, “I love you too Ignis. So much.”

********


	4. Coming to terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis finally comes to terms with Meryda wanting to help in the war on the Darkness. Its not easy, but with a little guidance, he knows its the right thing to do.

Ignis… 

My Lady?

Ignis… Hear me please. I need you to stay beside her. I need Meryda to be ready… she must be ready…

For what My Lady?

For the End. I will need her Ignis and she will need you. Please be her strength so that she can stand by my side in the end…

And return to you in the beginning.

Why her? Why my Lady there must be another way!

There is not Ignis… she is of my blood, my cousin. She has the blood of the oracle lines. It must be her… The ancestor of the mighty Strigan and the bloodline of the Oracles. She is the one Ignis!

My King… My lady?

We will need her Ignis. Make her strong not only of body but of mind. Give her all that she needs to be true. So that she can return to you and move into the future!

**

Ignis jolted awake in the dead of night with a panic rising in him that was a heavy weight against his chest. He was being crushed with knowledge and images of a future that could be a promise if he should fail the Oracle. Fail his Darling Meryda…

Swallowing thickly, he turned to the side of the bed where his beloved should lie, but found that her spot was already cool to the touch. Stroking the sheets where her body had been hours before, praying that he could soak up the remainder of her presence to store up inside of him, Ignis sighed. 

What a fool he had been. To try desperately to keep her from harms way when they were embroiled in an eternal war of night against daemons that fed from happiness only to leech out their despair. Was he able to truly live in such a fantasy that the orphanage had provided and believe that she would stay unaffected by the end of this war?

That as a noble family to Tenebrae and the one to support Bahamut in name and purpose, that she would never know the dangers of the darkness…

Was it possible to believe that?

No. It wasn’t.

Which was why he had to stop this nonsense and go to her, to plead for forgiveness and do the Oracle’s bidding. His Meryda would rise from the ashes of the old world and begin anew in this darkness to bring forth the light the people of Eos needed.

He would stand at her side so that she could call upon the heritage from both of her lines. He would be the one to help her train and be prepared to step up when the time called for it.

Ignis would never forgive himself otherwise.

Climbing from the bed, his heart heavier still that he was allowing this course of thought, the former Advisor prepared to find his beloved, beg her forgiveness and then submit himself to the path he would lead her on.

Astrals… guide her please… 

*************

It had been four weeks since the storms had passed, though more were rolling in and with them, destruction always reared its head. The world was unkind even if they had found a safe haven amongst the darkness where they could live a little lie that they were all a family and safe from inconveniences.

Those realizations had been particularly humbling for Meryda, a trained warrior who had grown far too soft while in Lestallum. How long had it been since her fingers wrapped around the pole of her weapon? Since she heard the slice of perfectly sharpened steel wrecking its way through a beast or foe? Too long.

Her muscles had forgotten the burn of pushing for more than she had to give, though her will refused to let her falter. And she had forgotten the satisfaction that came with a job well finished. For an entire week the woman had begged their orphanage’s soldier, and for that long week had had told her no.

As always she wore him down and got her way. The man she shared her life with was in a slight bit of denial that she would need to train this hard but his anger had dissipated once he allowed himself to accept the truth of the matter. What would happen when they were all gone? What would happen if something attacked the children and their soldiers’ were no where to be found?

How could she ever reconcile such a loss knowing that she had the skill and ability to fight. The answer was simple. She never would be able to forgive herself. So she picked up her polearm, the weight no longer familiar and the bulk just this side of too heavy in her hands, but not once through the past three weeks of training did she put it down. Even when Gladio wasn’t around, she trained, holding, twisting, launching the weapon for hours on end until that day that it would feel like a natural extension of her body once more.

Bruises and cut marred her once smooth skin and each time she witnessed a look of fright in a child’s eyes the time was taken to explain what was happening. They all had to know and to understand that one day they may have to fight and that while no one wanted that burden for them, it was unfortunately one to bear. Some nights the children cried themselves to sleep but she was always there.

This burden would be carried upon her shoulders and if she should need their help, they would be prepared. 

Prompto had started running drills with the kids should an attack ever happen while Miva set forth jobs for each individual and split the children into teams. The elders were in charge of their kids and getting them to the safe location. Maery supplied a number of scenarios and after a week the children were sleeping easier considering they had an idea of what to do.

It was a relief that after three weeks the house ran like a well oiled machine, dropping their activities at a moments notice to jump into a random drill, and each time they completed it, their time was better than the last. Frustrations lowered, the older children stopped fussing at the younger ones and instead helped when needed while the young ones worked hard to keep up.

The adults were all immensely proud but this was just the beginning of more weeks and months of practice. Years possibly. What frightened each of them most was that they were training young children to become future soldiers when all any of the adults wanted for them was a semblance of normalcy. What Meryda wouldn’t give to promise them that a normal life was waiting for them in the light.

A grin tilted her face as she contemplated wryly… What was normal?

Heavy, vicious strokes came down at her in the drizzling rain of the darkened afternoon and Meryda barely rolled out of the way to dodge the third.

“You’re distracted!” Gladio shouted, swinging his sword overhead before bringing it down on top of her with a leap up into the air.

Meryda lost her footing and hit the ground but was quick enough to get her scythe up, taking a solid impact of the hit but missing any damage that had been intended. With a solid kick to Gladio’s knee, his force weakened and she gave a hard shove to the side, driving his sword into the muddy earth. “I’m fine!” She shouted back, getting quickly to her feet that slid on the wet grass.

By the time Gladio had his blade removed from the ground, chunks of green and brown earth spiraling through the air, she lunged forward with the point of her weapon and got a slice in against his side. They didn’t play with protective wear…

Meryda had never grown up training with pads or wooden weapons and she wasn’t going to start now. Another jab that he dodged but this time she swung to the side and used the outer blade of her scythe to catch him off guard and knock his footing out from under him as he attempted not to get cut.

Gladio hit the ground and rolled over the back of his head only to spring up and block her next move. “You’re getting sloppy… don’t exhaust yourself.” When a fighter was tired, they made mistakes. Already the golden blond haired woman was covered in various little cuts and puncture wounds that she had taken on in a bid to win against him. She was frustrated with Gladio for his own choices in the situation…

Meryda should’ve taken a hit but it stopped just above her shoulder and with a mighty toss of his sword, the giant man angled it and knocked her weapon out of her hands. “Enough.”

“No! It’s not enough. You do this every time Gladio!”

“Training can’t be rushed Meryda…”

“It has to be!” She screamed at him through her tears, the rain coming harder now to run down her hair and face, blending in with her rage and frustration. “It has to be. We don’t have time to be taking it easy. If something happens…”

Gladio’s copper eyes softened, having traveled this road before of feeling unworthy and unable to do his duties. What he had done had been suicidal in the eyes of some but necessary in his own because he had a duty to be the best for his Prince and future King. Shaking his head, his proud shoulders slumped, he pulled his sword from the ground and let it evaporate back into his resting place. “Meryda… “ What could he say?

Heated blue eyes filled with contempt for such a tone being directed at her, Meryda threw her scythe at Gladio and let out a howl that one could have sworn shook the earth below her. “You can’t go easy on me Gladio. I have to be ready…”

“You will be! But not on your time.” At this pace he would kill her which would in turn mean his death because Ignis loved this woman blindly and would do anything to avenge her passing. 

When she couldn’t persuade him to continue and he began to depart, the woman got to her feet and used her body for an attack. He caught her and pushed her back, but she continued until they were both a muddy mess rolling around in the rain, trying to gain the upper hand.

Just as he would get her pinned, one massive arm bearing down on her neck in a demand for submission, she would get in a hit that left him weak for seconds. It was always enough but Gladio was strong and faster so no matter what she did, she ended up back on the ground with his blazing gaze alight with fury and desperation. “Yield!”

“Never!” Meryda struggled against his arm, hitting and slapping at him as she began to cry out in her anger that she was unable to win this until her opponent did something that shocked her entirely.

One moment she was in the mud struggling for purchase and the next she was wrapped up in the warmth of Gladiolus. Despite the fact that he was soaked through to the bone, the man still exuded body heat that would rival Ifrit’s. Clutching at his shoulders, the anger bled out of her and she whimpered. “I have to be strong.”

“You are strong.” He reassured her gently, feeling her pain pounding against his chest and unable to deny that it matched his own when he let it out. Gladiolus had been training the kids long before these past three weeks, generally because they were interested and it was something he knew so he could share it.

Ignis shared cooking, Prompto shared his photography and Gladio shared his battle techniques that had been fun before all of this. Now it was a duty that the children were expected to carry on their too small shoulders. He hated it.

Without warning his hands turned harsh on her body, a new sense of anger building within him in response to this insanity. Meryda met him match for match, both needing to push just a little bit further into their frustration, until they were both spent laying in the mud as the rain washed down on them. By the time that they made their way back in, the children down for their naps or quiet time activities, they both looked like they had gotten into a fight with a wild beast hell bent on destruction.

Calm, worried eyes watched the two warriors in silence, Maery, Miva and Prompto all settled at the kitchen table drinking a cup of hot tea to stave off the chill of the weather. Two pairs of dark blue eyes exchanged a glance of concern while Maery felt her chest swell with pride.

That was her sister. That was the Elder of the Strigan House…

That was the warrior she knew Meryda to be. Seeing that flare of anger in her eyes, and the straightness of her shoulders that boasted Tenebraean pride, Maery put down her tea with a clunk on the table, stood and followed after her sister.

“Where’s she going?” Prompto whispered to Miva who shuddered lightly as a chill shot up her spine.

“To wash the warrior.” Her voice was barely audible, a note of fear in it, but more than that, there was pride. Their mother had always boasted the warriors her daughter’s would be, and once upon a time they were. Then, it was lost to the darkness and duty toward the children who needed tenderness after the horrors they had witnessed just trying to survive against the beasts and monsters roaming the earth. So the Strigan sister’s laid down their weapons and domesticated themselves for the children who needed it from someone other than the parents that had forsaken them.

Prompto turned his gaze back to the path Meryda had taken to get in her room, a trail of muck behind her that he immediately stood up to go clean. “I guess the dream is over…”

“Was it ever really there?” Miva asked softly, polishing off her mug of tea to help clean the mess in the direction Gladiolus had gone in.

Prompto allowed himself a pitiful smile as he began to mop the floor. “No. Guess not.”

And perhaps that was ok? Perhaps it was necessary considering they were not living in a peaceful world and while mercy was possible, it was a precious commodity that had to be guarded far more carefully than it had been before the darkness came.

Prompto and Miva set to their tasks in silence and when they were finished the two lovers made their way up to their room and laid down together as they both mourned the end of a desperate hope.

***

Maery wasn’t two steps into the bathroom after her sister when Ignis stepped up behind her and motioned toward the door. “I shall wash our warrior Lady Strigan.” He addressed her with title, bowing slightly out of respect.

Maery whipped around, her wild brown hair backed away from her face with an agile hand that wanted to lash out at the man who had been so hard on her sister. But she refrained. The title and show of respect went a long way to soothing her anger. “Very well.” Maery muttered, waiting for her sister to dismiss her.

Giving the nod, Meryda stayed still, dripping on the dark tiled floor without a care in the world. When the door shut behind them, her back remaining turned, she called out softly, but unkindly, “And why are you here?” 

Ignis deserved her ire, and so he took it with grace. Stepping to her, but still out of reach to maintain the boundary she needed in this moment, he quietly answered. “I was wrong.” The words tasted horrible in his mouth, not because they were untrue but because he had failed Meryda in a way he had always promised himself that he wouldn’t.

For the past three weeks he had been angry and bitter with her decision to train up again, pushing her to the wayside in his upset so that she felt it just as much as he did. All he had ever wanted for her and these children was to live some sort of life that was untainted, and after a few years of acocmplishing that goal, Ignis had the knowledge thrown in his face that such a life was an impossibility.

“I was rude…” No more than that. “I was mean,” He corrected gently, his head hung low not often allowed by the former advisor. A proud man, Ignis was not one to show weakness but in the presence of this woman who his heart beat for, he would shed the layers of proud vanity and offer this sacrifice. “I know I cannot possible ask for it and receive it right now, but I do hope you will forgive me.”

His lack of words meant more than all of the pretty phrases and excuses he could have shared so when she turned and looking upon her pristine lover, his shield gone from his face and hair haphazardly caressing his defined cheekbones, Meryda leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “I forgive you. But this means that you will help me too.” He had refused her from the beginning even though she pleaded for his help. Keeping her eyes on him she waited, watching the struggle show itself across his face. 

Eventually though, Ignis nodded his head in acquiescence to the request and then very gently laid his hand on Meryda’s shoulder in permission to begin the process of cleaning her. “Go ahead.” She whispered against his ear and without further ado, he stripped her bare. 

“Bath?”

“Shower.” Meryda declared, wanting him with her. He knew what she was asking too because he nodded in agreement and gathered her filthy clothes to be put in a plastic bag that would immediately be taken to the laundry when they were done here.

Not bothering to look at herself in the mirror, Meryda stepped in the shower when Ignis was also stripped down and stood still so that he could bathe her. There were more cuts and knicks on her than she had realized, but by muffling the sounds of pain, he continued to work without pause.

Ignis heard her, took time to caress her body with the tips of his fingers to explore the marks she bore from the rough training under Gladiolus, and while he felt anger at her carelessness, he also felt pride. “I am proud of you.”

“Are you?” She bit out coldly, trying to maintain a touch of anger, but she was too tired. The soap was singing her nerves so that her entire body buzzed with small shocks of pain. But she took it, soaked it up and let it feed her determination that much more. 

He deserved her irritation. And once more he took it. “I am.” Caressing down the slope of her shoulders and then toward the front of her chest, he ensured that every dip and crevice was spotless. His warrior deserved it after all.

She deserved everything he had to offer and at the moment he wanted to offer every part of himself that he had put in reserve. Today, however, was not the day to press her for an intimacy he wanted if only to assuage his desire to be close to her in any and all ways after dealing with distance that had been self imposed. “How could I not be proud when you have never stopped, only pursued your goals that much harder, and with that much more determination.” He was moved by her determination and it was that same determination she held that frightened him.

Meryda shuddered against Ignis when she felt him wrap around her, pressing an open mouthed kiss to the rounded edge of her shoulder as his hands slid down to dabble in places hidden in the dark. The edge of his fingertip caressed her folds, dipping inside to taunt the small button already throbbing in protest to not being touched, but teased with the prospect.

Ignis felt Meryda brace herself, tightening the muscles in her thighs as she pulled her legs apart, and when he touched her, the abundance of air in her lungs released in a long, shaky whoosh. It went unspoken that when a lover washed, or cared for their returned warrior, they showed their appreciation for their sacrifices in the form of intimate touches and pleasure.

Meryda’s head lulled back onto Ignis’ shoulder, the silence enshrouding them save, save for the pounding of the water against the tile. “Ohh Iggy… No more…” She whimpered, desperate to no longer feel so far away from him. In the beginning it had been her to push him away, but over this past month, dealing with his anger, she had learned that it was not fun to have it done to her.

“No more…” He purred against her ear, wrapping his free arm firmly around her chest so that he could feel the beat of her heart against him. He was her guide, her hips following the dance he set the beat to as he sought her finish. It was with desperate touches that he filled her, and touched that gorgeous bit of nerves but she didn’t fight it. Just held on until she was spent.

Meryda whirled around the moment Ignis granted an ever so slight reprieve and tugged him into her lips. She attacked him with a fervor until they were both backed up to a slick wall where she immediately tried to scale his body. 

“No… it was for you…” He didn’t deserve her touch…

“I want you… now serve your warrior.” Her words were hot against his cheek, demanding his compliance but her Ignis was a gentleman. “Ignis… I said serve me. Show me that you repent…” she nipped his ear sharply and seconds later, his hands were beneath her bottom and he was surging deep within her body, to the hilt.

Meryda moaned and wrapped her body around the man pinning her to the wall as he set a punishing pace. Good. She didn’t want his tenderness. “Harder…” She implored him, whimpering against the push and pull of her wounds as he slowed his entry, but ramped up the force in which he took her at.

Ignis couldn’t stay still, his touch burned up and down the curvy expanse of Meryda’s body until she was screaming and writhing against him for more. “Ohh Darling… please…” He pleaded, nipping her collarbone and down to the breasts taunting his skin. Her nipples were puckered little buds that rasped over his rugged musculature that had only grown harder, firmer in the past years. “I d-don’t want to…” Hurt you he wanted to say but when she grabbed his chin and bit roughly at his lips, he lost himself.

They both came with a roar of satisfaction, panting and whining out their pleasure until Ignis’ harsh movements slowed and they both slipped to the floor. Sighing, Meryda nuzzled her lover and took a moment for her breathing to ease. “I love you Ignis… so much it hurts some days.”

He chuckled and leaned upward for a kiss from his perch on her breasts. “And I you my Darling. More than I ever thought possible.” His life had been duty and obligation to his king until she came along and showed him the possibility of a life outside of that. Now, Ignis had so much more to fight for and when he realized that she couldn’t be tamed.

But then, would he love her as much as he did if she was tameable? 

“Take me to our room Ignis…” Meryda whispered against his brow beseechingly. She wanted him again. Needed him to fill the void she felt growing inside.

“Of course my beloved.” He gave into her because he was never able to fully deny this woman’s wants even when it was best for her well being.

The two lovers didn’t re-emerge until supper which was prepared by the others in the house and once they did, all was right with the household once more. Both Mama’s were happy.

***

The ground was wet beneath his boots, but firmer than the day before after all of the rain. Summoning his daggers, Ignis turned toward his beloved and grinned. “Ready then?”

She prepared her weapon in her hand, he could hear the way she gripped it tight and gave a few experimental slashes into the wind that stopped as she settled her posture in preparation for his attack. “Ready.” Meryda replied, giddy with excitement to take on her lover.

I shall always protect her Luna… this I promise you. When the day comes that we must stand by our King… she will be ready.

Ready to stand on her own if need be. Ready to fight the darkness so that he could come back to her and live in the light at her side. 

“Then come at me slow poke.” He taunted her with a slash of his daggers through the air, the electricity he used from the potion crackling in the air.

Meryda’s eyes brightened with the thrill of an extra element added to the training and without a further prompt, she sprang forward into her attack.

**

Luna watched quietly from her place in the beyond, both saddened and full of pride for the Priestess she was going to lead down a dark path. Neither Ignis nor Meryda knew what she was being prepared for, but it was the only hope any of them had.

Forgive me Meryda… but I know what must be done and I know you are the only one who can do it… Be strong my beloved friend and when you cannot be, know that I am forever at your side.

Turning from the scene, the Oracle allowed herself to submerse into the great beyond only to reappear in front of the doors that hid away the mighty Astral himself. Though it was not the Draconian she wished to see…

“I call to thee… Mighty Strigan. Bearer of the Light within our blessed Bahamut… come to me and help me bring forth a new Eos through the Lady Strigan.. Meryda.” 

Nothing happened that day, nor the several days after than she had sought out the blessed Strigan, the sole being Bahamut himself had ever loved. Yet, Luna never stopped coming to the resting place of the bladekeeper, instead she continued to call out and beg for the presence of the woman who would save Meryda and Eos…

At long last, two years after she had begun to call out to the slumbering soldier, resting deep within the Astral’s heart, a voice responded.

Who wakes me? And what is this news of my precious Merdya…

Luna’s eyes slid closed as she offered up a prayer and when she opened her gaze once more, in front of her stood the legendary soldier of Bahamut.

The Strigan.

And she smiled beautifully at the oracle, dressed in her regal splendor that spoke of her strength with blue and gold armor adorning her frame.

Bowing, the Oracle humbled herself and put her lips to the finely tailored metal coverings atop the leather hide boots beneath and pressed a kiss. “I come to you Strigan to protect and aid Meryda… I believe she is the true Strigan… the…”

“Lightbearer.” The Strigan hummed out in approval, casting her immense blue eyes to the Oracle as she held out her hand to help her out. “Come with me Oracle… let us prepare…”

(END)


End file.
